Goodbye to Berlin, hello to Klagenfurt

Ryanair's announcement that it is to buy rival no-frills airline Buzz comes as no surprise. From a commercial perspective the move makes perfect sense.

Both airlines fly out of Stansted, strengthening Ryanair's position at that airport, and there is very little overlap on routes. Ryanair is traditionally very strong in Italy, Ireland and Scandinavia, while Buzz has an enviable network of destinations in France and a decent smattering in Spain.

However, the deal is not quite such good news for air travellers. In the space of just 12 months the number of major low-cost airlines has halved, from four to two (Easyjet having gobbled up Go last summer). And where there is less competition, less choice and higher prices usually follow.

Unfortunately, experience has shown that Ryanair-type profitability is achieved by offering Ryanair-type customer service (ie none). And rapid traffic growth is achieved by maximising the num ber of flights a single aircraft makes in one day (thus maximising the potential for disrupted flight schedules and mislaid baggage).

As for the lower fares, I have no doubt that Ryanair will deliver on this promise - at least in the short term. Ryanair has already stated that one of the ways it will cut back fares is by ditching some of Buzz's 'unprofitable routes' and 'expensive congested' airports.

Unfortunately, the expensive congested airports are expensive and congested precisely because they are the airports people want to fly to. So don't be surprised if 'Buzz-type' routes, such as Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin, are ditched in favour of 'Ryanair-type' destinations such as Klagenfurt, Eindhoven, Esbjerg and Haugesund.

It will be interesting to see what happens on the routes shared by Ryanair and Buzz. For example, both airlines' websites will tell you they fly into Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. In reality, Buzz flies into Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, while Ryanair flies into Hahn (120km away from Frankfurt) and Niederrhein (75km from Düsseldorf). If Ryanair is dead set on cutting costs, it's not difficult to guess which airports will get the chop.

Similarly in the Netherlands, Ryanair can no doubt save money by ditching Buzz's route into Amsterdam in favour of its own route to Eindhoven. But from the traveller's point of view, is a £9.99 flight to Eindhoven (home to the Phillips lightbulb factory and not much else) really more of a bargain than a £39.99 flight to Amsterdam? I suspect not.